Lofi House has come to be a major force these past few years due to its relative simplicity in terms of production skill required but mostly because it carries with it the very essence of House music.
That essence is a laid back and stripped back soulful sound that has been lacking in most big dance records these past few years. Everything these days is far too polished and clean and whilst hat may be OK for some, it also loses its magic when the roughness is removed. I think that Lofi allows the producer to explore broader ground when producing as the rule book is throw away and therefore this allows subtle beauty to enter with lush warm pads and transposed drum sounds making it raw and underground again but with plenty of depth and rich textures for the listener to enjoy.
I have been drawn to the style of Lofi mostly because in my early days of dance music production I never had access to a polished studio when I was running samples through my Casio SK-5 and my Fostex Four track. Even when I upgraded to an Atari ST and Akai S-900 in the mid 90's I still had to make demos that sounded rough around the edges which added charm.
So when Lofi House become popular over the last few years it struck a deep chord with me which reminded me of those days, so to be able to produce that kind of music deliberately was something I absolutely loved to do.
Lets begin with the first video which is a very moody demo showing you the capabilities with the Spitfire Labs free plug in synths. Some of the Brass sounds are brilliant and have such a good feel to the overall vibe of the track as they sound like a real player is performing.
The second tutorial is a Synth Wave style track but on a Lofi House vibe. Using the elements of Boogie Synth and the moodiness of warm pads to create a funky but deep vibe. The drums were manipulated to a Lofi style with distortion and transposition etc.
This track below is a more Jazzy Funk vibe using some ambience sound effects and an arpeggio driven lead line. The classic organ bassline is used to give it a more club feel, but the overall feel is deep and soulful with hints of old skool rave.
This moody number below is a much more heavier track with some tough sub bass and a nice Rhodes riff. High strings and improvised lead riffs. But the emphasis is on the bass line and the heaviness of the drum patterns.
This tutorial has a much more Chicago old skool House vibe to it. The Garage feel is also present in this with the chopped up Rhodes chords. It has some Jazz elements to it aswell as a solid bass line. This tutorial is probably one of the best ones I have created to teach you the basic fundamentals of Lofi House.
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